2010 Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen will start his pursuit of the South African Open on Thursday with English duo Chris Paisley and Matt Wallace for company.

Paisley will get the defence of his title under way alongside a Major Champion in Oosthuizen and Wallace, a three-time winner in 2018.

The trio begin on the Bushwillow course at 8:25am and represent some of the biggest obstacles to the 240-strong players field.

Oosthuizen, without a win two years, is the top-ranked player in the field and the bookies favourite along with Wallace, second to the South African in terms of rankings and bookies’ odds, the form player following his breakthrough season which saw him go agonisingly close to playing his way on to Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team.

Tournament host Ernie Els is looking for his sixth win at this event, and he will be alongside fellow home hopefuls George Coetzee and Justin Walters at 7:40am.

The all-South African group of Branden Grace, Dean Burmester and Justin Harding are sure to take a good crowd with them when they set off at 8:15am.

On the Firethorn course, 2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel gets under way at 11:55am alongside fellow South African Haydn Porteous and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger – who continues his comeback from a wrist injury.

Last week’s winner in Mauritius, Kurt Kitayama, tees off at 11:35am in the company of 2016 champion Brandon Stone, who bagged a Rolex Series win last year in Scotland and Erik van Rooyen, who finished second at Randpark last year when the course hosted the now defunct co-sanctioned Joburg Open.

For a full list of tee times, click here.